jason is live from shirr rana in the northeastern part of afghanistan. happy fourth of july to you, nice to see you. >> and happy fourth of july to you. i'm going to bring in randy shorter right now. i have to tell you, we now have to refer to him as first sergeant randy shorter because he's since been promoted since the last time the two of us were together. let me bring you in here now. tell us about, what was it september, august, the last time i was with you guys? >> tell me what the past several months have been like? the taliban has been exerting its influence in the area. how has it been for you? >> for me and my men it's been quite busy. getting out there, getting after it. we've been steadily, you know, helping the afghan people here. we've been promoting a lot of projects, a lot of schools, getting out there every day. >> also, congratulations on that promotion. >> thank you. >> also, much has been said about the draw down. you and some of your men will be leaving in just a few weeks. how do you feel about that? because there's been, you know,